Written Answers Wednesday 21 September 2005

Scottish Executive

Access for Disabled People

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what legislation provides for the issuing of temporary disabled persons’ parking badges by local authorities.

Tavish Scott: There is currently no provision for the issue of temporary Blue Badges. However, following the Blue Badge Review of 2002, I am pleased to advise that temporary badges will be introduced for people with a clearly defined temporary mobility impairment which is deemed to last at least 12 months, but less than three years. We are committed to introducing this legislation at the earliest opportunity.

Air Services

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what concessionary fares are available for air travel to the Western Isles, Orkney, Shetland and other Scottish islands from the mainland by residents of these islands and which groups of people are eligible for such concessions.

Tavish Scott: There are no concessionary air travel fares available to residents of Scottish Islands between the islands and the mainland under the current local authority concessionary schemes.

Alcohol Misuse

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider increasing awareness of the dangers of alcohol consumption during pregnancy by placing obligations on the alcoholic drinks industry to label its bottles and cans with adequate warnings.

Lewis Macdonald: Imposition of labelling requirements on the alcohol industry is a reserved matter. However, the Executive is committed to working with the UK Government, the Portman Group and where appropriate at EU level to develop approaches to product labelling.

Alcohol Misuse

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will invest in research into fetal alcohol syndrome, given the indications from the World Health Organization that its incidence could be higher than current estimates.

Lewis Macdonald: An alcohol research plan is currently being finalised in conjunction with NHS Health Scotland, and in addition we will have access to the findings of a review of available evidence of fetal effects of alcohol which the UK Department of Health is expected to complete early next year.

Alcohol Misuse

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will address the problem of fetal alcohol syndrome by including information on the risks of alcohol consumption during pregnancy as an essential element of health education in schools.

Lewis Macdonald: The 5-14 Health Education National Guidelines sets out a framework of general learning expectations for pupils across the topic of health education, including alcohol education. This ensures that information about alcohol is given as part of a programme aimed at helping young people develop sound lifestyle choices and healthy living.

Alcohol Misuse

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take in response to evidence suggesting that women from poorer backgrounds with poorer nutrition are more likely to consume alcohol during pregnancy with the potential for inducing fetal alcohol syndrome.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive is planning to make a range of publications available about the short and long term consequences of drinking alcohol that will include, specifically, the risks of drinking during pregnancy. This process will take into account any reliable Scottish data on the different drinking patterns between those in different socio-economic groups.

Ambulance Service

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-18263 by Mr Andy Kerr on 9 September 2005, what the average response time was to emergency calls time for all emergency incidents in each NHS board area in each year since 2002-03.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is provided in the following table.

  

NHS Board Area
Average Response Time for 2002-03
(Minutes)
Average Response Time for 2003-04
(Minutes)
Average Response Time for 2004-05
(Minutes)


Argyll and Clyde
11.0
10.2
9.9


Ayrshire and Arran
9.4
9.5
9.4


Borders
10.1
9.5
9.6


Dumfries and Galloway
10.7
9.7
10.5


Fife
8.7
8.5
8.2


Forth Valley
9.8
9.2
9.1


Grampian
11.3
8.3
7.9


Greater Glasgow
9.9
9.6
10.5


Highland
9.8
9.5
9.6


Lanarkshire
11.5
10.0
10.7


Lothian
9.2
8.5
8.6


Orkney
11.4
10.5
10.3


Shetland
13.8
12.2
13.6


Tayside
8.9
8.8
8.7


Western Isles
11.2
10.5
10.6


Scotland
9.8
9.3
9.5



  Priority-based dispatch was rolled out across mainland Scotland between 2002 and 2004. This marked a fundamental change to the way in which the Scottish Ambulance Service responded to calls moving from a practice where it dispatched ambulances on a "first come, first served" basis, to one where those patients with immediately life-threatening conditions were responded to more quickly.

  In 2004-05 the ambulance service responded to Category A (life threatening) calls in an average of 8.6 minutes across Scotland, which demonstrates that those patients with the greatest need are indeed receiving a faster service. This performance has been achieved against the background of an increase of 10.7% in the number of emergency incidents responded to in the last two years.

Antisocial Behaviour

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) full and (b) part-time antisocial behaviour-related posts have been created since the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 came into force, broken down by local authority area.

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of the (a) full and (b) part time antisocial behaviour-related posts that have been created since the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 came into force, broken down by local authority area.

Hugh Henry: Apart from community wardens, it is difficult to specify the number of posts that have been created since the act came into force. This is partly because local authorities have funded some posts from their own mainstream resources as well as using Scottish Executive funding. In addition, Executive funding in 2004-5 and 2005-6 was earmarked for filling gaps in a range of core services, which included support for victims and witnesses, neighbourhood mediation and investigation teams. Local authorities elected to use these funds in a variety of ways, depending on their starting point. This included additional local authority staff, secondments of police officers and purchasing of services from voluntary sector agencies.

  From 2006, funding will be linked to the achievement of outcomes set out in antisocial behaviour outcome agreements prepared by local councils and their Community Planning partners.

Antisocial Behaviour

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much extra funding was distributed to cover antisocial behaviour-related posts since the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 came into force, broken down by local authority area.

Hugh Henry: Set out in the following table is the additional funding that has been, or will be, provided by the Executive to prevent and tackle antisocial behaviour over the period 2004-05 to 2007-08 broken down by local authority area.

  Not all of this funding will have been spent directly on antisocial behaviour-related posts. For example, some funding has been used for vehicles or equipment necessary for the work of community wardens. Some funding may also have been provided to voluntary sector organisations to purchases services such as victim support and neighbour mediation.

  

Local Authority
2004-05 (£)
2005-06 (£)
2006-07 (£)
2007-08 (£)
Total (£)


Glasgow City
2,487,000
2,760,950
3,238,000
3,401,000
11,869,950


Edinburgh, City of
1,685,000
1,869,950
2,210,000
2,374,000
8,138,950


North Lanarkshire
1,685,000
1,869,950
2,210,000
2,374,000
8,138,950


Dundee City
1,685,000
1,869,950
2,210,000
2,374,000
8,138,950


Renfrewshire
1,364,000
1,513,550
1,765,000
1,900,000
6,542,550


Aberdeen City
1,364,000
1,513,550
1,765,000
1,900,000
6,542,550


West Dunbartonshire
1,364,000
1,513,550
1,765,000
1,900,000
6,542,550


Inverclyde
1,364,000
1,513,550
1,765,000
1,900,000
6,542,550


Fife
843,000
935,550
1,150,000
1,300,000
4,228,550


South Lanarkshire
843,000
935,550
1,150,000
1,300,000
4,228,550


North Ayrshire
843,000
935,550
1,150,000
1,300,000
4,228,550


East Ayrshire
843,000
935,550
1,068,000
1,130,000
3,976,550


West Lothian
642,000
712,800
835,500
880,000
3,070,300


Falkirk
642,000
712,800
835,500
880,000
3,070,300


Dumfries and Galloway
642,000
712,800
835,500
880,000
3,070,300


South Ayrshire
642,000
712,800
835,500
880,000
3,070,300


Highland
369,000
409,400
480,000
519,000
1,777,400


Perth and Kinross
369,000
409,400
480,000
519,000
1,777,400


Clackmannanshire
369,000
409,400
480,000
519,000
1,777,400


Stirling
369,000
409,400
480,000
519,000
1,777,400


Angus
369,000
409,400
480,000
519,000
1,777,400


Midlothian
369,000
409,400
480,000
519,000
1,777,400


East Renfrewshire 
369,000
409,400
480,000
519,000
1,777,400


East Dunbartonshire
369,000
409,400
480,000
519,000
1,777,400


Aberdeenshire
248,000
275,750
320,000
335,000
1,178,750


Scottish Borders
248,000
275,750
320,000
335,000
1,178,750


East Lothian
248,000
275,750
320,000
335,000
1,178,750


Moray
248,000
275,750
320,000
335,000
1,178,750


Argyll and Bute
184,000
204,700
247,000
260,000
895,700


Eilean Siar
184,000
204,700
225,000
245,000
858,700


Shetland Islands
184,000
204,700
225,000
245,000
858,700


Orkney Islands
184,000
204,700
225,000
245,000
858,700


Total
23,618,000
26,215,400
30,830,000
33,160,000
113,823,400

Asylum Seekers

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the statements about welfare of children in the asylum system, including in immigration removal centres, by the Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland on BBC Radio’s "Good Morning Scotland" on 1 September 2005 and whether it has made any representations to the UK Government on the issue.

Robert Brown: Responsibility for immigration and asylum issues, including the detention and deportation of unsuccessful applicants for asylum, rests with the Home Office and the Immigration Service. The Executive is in regular dialogue with the Home Office on a wide range of issues.

Care of Elderly People

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether an audit of the local delivery plans of NHS boards has been undertaken to identify whether an integrated falls service has been established in each board’s area.

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what evaluation has been undertaken of integrated falls services across Scotland.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive carried out an audit of falls prevention services in the autumn of 2002. This resulted in the holding of a falls prevention conference in November 2002, and a conference report which was issued widely by NHS Health Scotland in March 2003.

Care of Elderly People

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a named individual has been designated in each NHS board to lead the development of an integrated falls service.

Lewis Macdonald: We do not collect information from NHS boards about designated named individuals leading the development of integrated falls services.

Care of Elderly People

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether an assessment has been made of NHS boards across Scotland in respect of what each board’s understanding is of the definition of an integrated falls service.

Lewis Macdonald: We have not asked each health board to explain their understanding of the definition of an integrated falls service.

Children and Young People

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Children and Young People with a record of needs, their appeals having been dealt with by local education authority appeals committees, have had a summary application lodged with a sheriff court and are awaiting a court hearing date.

Peter Peacock: The information requested is not provided to the Scottish Executive as part of the appeals process. However, there is an annual statistical collection of this information. The most recent information was provided within the answer to question S2W-17439 on 6 July 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Children's Hearings

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children’s panel members have resigned from their voluntary positions in each of the last five years.

Robert Brown: The information requested is provided in the following table:

  

Year
Number of Resignations


2000
558


2001
446


2002
454


2003
471


2004
511



  It should be noted that children’s panel members are volunteers who give their time on an unpaid basis. The turnover rate is around 20% per annum which is not unreasonable by comparison to other voluntary positions in society.

Children's Hearings

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have volunteered to become a member of the children’s panel system in each of the last five years.

Robert Brown: Table 1 shows the number of respondents to the annual national children’s panel recruitment campaign in each of the last five years. Table 2 shows the number of people appointed by Scottish ministers to children’s panels in each of the last five years. Table 3 shows the number of people appointed by Scottish ministers to Children’s Panel Advisory Committees in each of the last five years.

  Table 1. Number of Responses to Annual National Children’s Panel Recruitment Campaign

  

Year
Total


2000
1,460


2001
1,105


2002
4,133


2003
3,816


2004
3,072



  Table 2. Number of People Appointed To Children’s Panels

  

Year
Total


2000
443


2001
465


2002
579


2003
608


2004
520



  Table 3. Number of People Appointed to Children’s Panel Advisory Committees

  

Year
Total


2000
19


2001
17


2002
23


2003
29


2004
17

Children's Hearings

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have failed to complete children’s panel training in each of the last five years.

Robert Brown: This data is not held either centrally or by the four Children’s Hearings Training Units. From 2005 onward, however, the Scottish Executive plans to capture such data and this will form part of the Children’s Panel Annual Report to the Parliament.

Children's Hearings

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of people who started training to be children’s panel members failed to complete their training in each of the last five years.

Robert Brown: This data is not held either centrally or by the four Children’s Hearings Training Units. From 2005 onward, however, the Scottish Executive plans to capture such data and this will form part of the Children’s Panel Annual Report to the Parliament.

Civil Servants

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many civil service jobs have been lost from each of Scotland's cities in each year since 1999 and, of these, how many were lost as a result of (a) relocation and (b) redundancy.

Mr Tom McCabe: The information requested is shown in the following table and covers posts within the Scottish Executive core and associated departments and agencies. No jobs were lost as a result of redundancy. The information does not include details of civil service posts in other Government Departments located in Scotland, which are not held by the Scottish Executive.

  Civil Service Jobs in the Scottish Executive’s Administration Lost from Scottish Cities

  

Year
City
Total of All Posts Lost1 
(a) As a Result of Relocation


1999
Edinburgh
 160 
 160 


2001
Edinburgh
2 
 - 


2002
Edinburgh
 10 
 - 


Glasgow
 13 
 - 


2003
Edinburgh
 248 
 248 


2004
Edinburgh
 253.5 
 209 


Glasgow
 35.5 
 13 


2005
Edinburgh
 65 
 65 



  Note: 1. Total includes posts lost through natural wastage following restructuring.

Council Tax

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11610 by Mr Tom McCabe on 19 November 2004, how many households have received council tax benefit and, of these, how many (a) are pensioner households and (b) include a disabled person in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

George Lyon: For figures on the number of households in receipt of council tax benefit broken down by Local Authority area, I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-18050 on 22 August 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  Figures for the number of pensioner households and the number of households which include a disabled person in receipt of council tax benefit are not available at local authority level.

Economy

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the productivity levels have been in each year since 1999.

Nicol Stephen: Whole economy productivity is measured by calculating the output generated per worker in the economy. The following table reports Scotland's Productivity performance indexed to 1999, which is derived from data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Productivity Series.

  

 
Scotland


1999
100.0


2000
102.6


2001
101.0


2002
102.4


2003
104.6



  Source: ONS Productivity Series 1st Quarter 2005 http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/prod0705.pdf.

Economy

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the growth in investment has been in each year since 1999, expressed as a percentage.

Nicol Stephen: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) produce figures on Gross Fixed Capital Formation as part of their Regional Accounts. The latest available figures for Scotland relate to 2000 and are available at the following website:

  http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=7359.

  However, ONS are currently reviewing their methodology, and expect to publish new and revised figures for Gross Fixed Capital Formation in December 2005.

  Gross Fixed Capital Formation can be described mainly as the acquisition, less disposals of new or existing fixed assets.

Economy

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the growth rate for the economy has been in each year since 1999.

Nicol Stephen: The following table details the annual growth rates of Scotland’s Gross Value Added (also referred to as Gross Domestic Product at basic prices) between 1999 and 2004. Scottish Gross Value added is calculated in constant prices thereby removing the effect of inflation.

  Table 1: Scottish Constant Price Gross Value Added: Annual Growth Rates, 1999-2004

  

Year
Growth Rate


1999
2.0%


2000
2.1%


2001
1.9%


2002
1.1%


2003
1.9%


2004
1.9%



  Source: Scottish Executive: Quarterly GDP index.

Employment

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what assumptions it uses in preparing its budget to determine the proportion of people aged from 16 to 65 in employment.

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what assumptions it uses in preparing its budget to determine the proportion of people over 65 in employment.

Mr Tom McCabe: We published the Draft Budget 2006-07 on 1 September 2005. The spending plans within that report take into account up-to-date statistical information, including where appropriate, population information.

Environment

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the use of jet-skis should be limited on (a) the Firth of Forth and (b) rivers and lochs in general and, if so, what additional resources would be made available for such action.

Tavish Scott: It is the responsibility of local authorities and harbour authorities to consider whether the use of jet-skis needs to be limited. If necessary this can be done using local byelaw powers.

  On the Firth of Forth there has been co-ordinated action involving Edinburgh City Council and Forth Ports, the harbour authority. The city council has purchased buoys to designate areas for swimming where jet-skis are not permitted. Forth Ports has issued a Notice to Mariners advising of the area.

  In non-coastal waters, local authorities, or within national parks, the national parks authorities, are the byelaw authorities and would be responsible for implementing any necessary measures to limit the use of jet-skis. The Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority is currently undertaking a consultation on the byelaws relating to registration and navigation on Loch Lomond and revised draft byelaws are expected to be submitted to Scottish ministers for confirmation by the end of December 2005.

Flood Prevention

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidelines it issues on cost-benefit analyses in respect of funding for flood defence.

Rhona Brankin: To date, the Executive has given advice on cost-benefit analyses on a case by case basis based on the principles of Flood and Coastal Defence Project Appraisal Guidance 3 - Economic Appraisal , published by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and available on their website: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environ/fcd/pubs/pagn/fcdpag3/default.htm .

  On the basis of advice from the Flooding Issues Advisory Committee, and its predecessor group the National Technical Advisory Group on Flooding Issues, the Executive is developing its own guidance, Flood Prevention Schemes; Guidance for Local Authorities, which includes a chapter, Economic Appraisal, dealing with cost–benefit analysis. Further information on the development of this guidance is available on the Executive’s website at

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/Water/Flooding/16919/15222

  We expect to publish later in the autumn the first chapters of our guidance, including the chapter on Economic Appraisal, with further chapters rolled out over the next two years. I shall arrange for copies of the guidance (Bib. number 37463) to be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, on publication.

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any bodies listed under Schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 are no longer operational and, if so, which bodies these are and why the Act has not been amended to reflect this.

Ms Margaret Curran: A number of changes have been made to Schedule 1 to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 by primary legislation. These changes include deletions of, additions to and amendments of the descriptions of the listed bodies.

  Eight bodies which are no longer operational have been removed by primary legislation, five of those by virtue of Schedule 4 of the Public Appointments and Public Bodies etc. (Scotland) Act 2003. Those eight bodies are:

  1. The Scottish Hospital Trust;

  2. The Scottish Medical Practices Committee;

  3. The Ancient Monuments Board for Scotland;

  4. The Historic Buildings Council for Scotland;

  5. The Scottish Conveyancing and Executry Services Board;

  6. Her Majesty’s Inspector of Fire Services for Scotland;

  7. A person providing primary medical services under a general medical services contract (within the meaning of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978) or general dental services, general ophthalmic services or pharmaceutical services under Part II of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978, but only in respect of information relating to the provision of those services, and

  8. A person providing personal medical services or personal dental services under arrangements made under section 17C of that act, but only in respect of information relating to the provision of those services.

  There are some other bodies listed in schedule 1 which are no longer operational but have not yet been deleted. These are

  1. The Clinical Standards Board for Scotland;

  2. The Health Education Board for Scotland;

  3. The Health Technology Board for Scotland;

  4. A local health council, established under section 7 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978;

  5. A National Health Service Trust;

  6. The Post Qualification Education Board for Health Service Pharmacists in Scotland;

  7. Scottish Advisory Committee on the Medical Workforce;

  8. The Scottish Council for Post Graduate Medical and Dental Education, and

  9. The Scottish Health Advisory Service.

  Consequential amendments to remove these bodies will be made when there is a suitable legislative opportunity.

Health

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will maintain and enhance the specialised stoma care services currently provided by dispensing appliance contractors (DACs) if proposals to remunerate DACs provide insufficient funding to maintain the additional services which they provide, such as the cutting and fitting of stoma products, and who will provide these services if they are not able to be offered by DACs.

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consult stoma patients and medical professionals who are concerned that the implementation of current remuneration proposals for dispensing appliance contractors will lead to a greatly diminished standard of stoma care service.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Executive has established a national steering group, that includes patient group representatives and stoma nurses, and which is meeting regularly to discuss the implementation of the new supply arrangements for stoma appliances. The Executive is also consulting with contractors who currently supply stoma appliances to patients in the community on the terms of the formal procurement for service provision from April 2006 onwards. The existing level of expenditure for the provision of stoma care services will continue to be available to NHS boards.

Health

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost is of treating hip fractures per patient in the (a) first and (b) second year after the fracture has occurred.

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the combined social care and hospital costs of treating hip fractures have been in each year since 1999.

Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is not held centrally.

Housing

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) outturn expenditure was in each year from 1995-96 to 2004-05 and (b) estimated outturn expenditure is for 2005-06 and 2006-07, shown in real terms where relevant, in respect of (i) the Scottish Homes/Communities Scotland approved development programme, (ii) Scottish Homes/Communities Scotland's own stock capital investment, (iii) new town stock capital investment, (iv) housing revenue account borrowing consent, (v) housing revenue account permitted spend from receipts, (vi) non-housing revenue account spending, (vii) local authority spending on private sector repair and improvement grants, (viii) the Rough Sleepers Initiative, (ix) the Empty Homes Initiative, (x) new housing partnerships and/or community ownership, (xi) housing support grants, (xii) the warm deal and central heating programmes and (xiii) capital projects funded from revenue by local authorities.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information, at 2005-06 prices, is set out in the following tables .

  

Programme
Outturn (£ Million, at 2005-06 prices)


1995-96
1996-97
1997-98
1998-99
1999-2000


Scottish Homes/Communities Scotland Development Programme
416.9
376.7
253.1
234.4
241.0


Scottish Homes/Communities Scotland’s own Stock Capital Investment
34.2
50.2
17.7
11.0
8.9


New Town Stock Capital Investment
44.5
7.4
0.0
0.0
0.0


Housing Revenue Account Borrowing Consent 1
241.2
191.8
208.0
185.3
161.4


Housing Revenue Account Permitted Spend from Receipts
312.1
182.9
80.9
78.5
81.3


Non-Housing Revenue Account Spending2
158.3
116.0
76.9
77.3
74.4


Local Authority Spending on Private Sector Repair and Improvement Grants
87.1
79.2
71.4
50.9
39.1


Rough Sleepers Initiative
0.0
0.0
2.6
3.8
6.4


The Empty Homes Initiative
0.0
0.0
2.4
6.1
4.4


New Housing Partnerships and/or Community Ownership
0.0
0.0
12.0
32.1
40.4


Housing Support Grant
24.8
24.1
18.7
14.9
12.3


The Warm Deal and Central Heating Programmes
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
12.4


Capital Funded from Revenue by Local Authorities
51.8
28.2
72.8
102.4
122.7



  

Programme
Outturn £ Million, (At 2005-06 Prices)


2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05


Scottish Homes/Communities Scotland Development Programme
245.0
249.9
235.8
268.9
303.0


Scottish Homes/Communities Scotland’s own Stock Capital Investment
4.8
2.5
2.1
2.0
1.3


New Town Stock Capital Investment
0.0
0.0
0.
0.0
0.0


Housing Revenue Account Borrowing Consent3,4
185.1
195.5
174.8
131.2
56.9


Housing Revenue Account Permitted Spend from Receipts3,4
70.5
83.4
102.9
89.4
194.2


Non-Housing Revenue Account Spending2
71.4
79.2
60.6
64.9
107.4 (provisional)


Local Authority Spending on Private Sector Repair and Improvement Grants
38.6
44.2
37.4
37.4
Not yet available


Rough Sleepers Initiative5
12.9
14.4
1.9
0.6
0.3


The Empty Homes Initiative
5.6
7.1
0.4
0.1
0.0


New Housing Partnerships and/or Community Ownership
58.8
73.9
58.2
44.7
52.5


Housing Support Grant
10.9
10.0
9.9
10.0
10.4


The Warm Deal and Central Heating Programmes
13.3
33.0
41.7
61.8
59.6


Capital Funded from Revenue by Local Authorities3
142.8
115.7
148.9
90.3
90.8



  

Programme
Plans/Estimates
(£ Million, at 2005-06 prices)


2005-06
2006-07


Affordable Housing Investment Programme6
408.0
394.3


Scottish Homes/Communities Scotland’s own Stock Capital Investment
0.1
0.0


New Town Stock Capital Investment
0.0
0.0


Housing Revenue Account Borrowing3,4
123.1
171.6


Housing Revenue Account Spend from Receipts3,4
198.4
179.5


Non-Housing Revenue Account Spending2
98.9
74.2


Local Authority Spending on Private Sector Repair and Improvement Grants
72.0
70.1


Rough Sleepers Initiative5
1.0
0.2


The Empty Homes Initiative
0.0
0.0


New Housing Partnerships and/or Community Ownership6
0.0
0.0


Housing Support Grant
9.9
6.8


The Warm Deal and Central Heating Programmes
57.8
55.0


Capital Funded from Revenue by Local Authorities3
103.4
91.0



  Notes:

  1. Excludes cash sums of £107 million in 1995-96 and £83 million in 1996-97 which was additional borrowing consent to enable councils to purchase New Towns stock.

  2. Non-HRA Spending includes all non-HRA spending, whether funded by borrowing, receipts or capital funded from revenue. it also includes the spending on private sector repair and improvement grants, shown in the line below.

  3. Following council housing transfers in Scottish Borders, Dumfries and Galloway and Glasgow, these councils do not appear in the figures for 2003-04 onwards.

  4. Under the Prudential Regime for local authority capital finance, introduced in April 2004, HRA borrowing consents are no longer issued by the Scottish Executive, and it is for councils to determine their own level of borrowing, in line with the Prudential Code. In addition, the rules (introduced in 1996-97) requiring councils to use a proportion of their HRA receipts to redeem debt were not continued beyond April 2004.

  5. From 2002-03, the figures exclude cash sums of £9.3 million a year of RSI funding which is allocated through the Local Government budget

  6. The Affordable Housing Investment Programme was established in April 2005. It includes the Communities Scotland Development Programme, the Community Ownership Programme and the Housing Estates Regeneration Fund. The figure provided for 2005-06 is as set out in the Budget Act, and for 2006-07 is the real terms equivalent of the planned figure published in the Draft Budget 2006-7. In both years, subject to parliamentary approval of revised budgets, actual spend is expected to be higher than the figures provided above, as a result of using anticipated receipts, and resources currently held in the central unallocated provision.

Income

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to address low pay in (a) Orkney, (b) Moray, (c) Perthshire, (d) West Dunbartonshire and (e) Dumfries and Galloway.

Nicol Stephen: The Enterprise Networks are charged with pursuing the strategic priorities for economic development contained in A Smart, Successful Scotland. These priorities include exploiting opportunities that contribute to reducing disparities between different parts of Scotland. They also include competing based on offering high value products and services which require high level skills. Achieving this will contribute to greater prosperity and employment and increasing income levels in the areas listed in the question.

Individual Learning Accounts

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has allocated for computer training funding under the Individual Learning Account (ILA) scheme in the next five years.

Nicol Stephen: The budget for ILA Scotland has been confirmed to 2007-08 as part of the Spending Review 2004 process. The budget allocation is £19.3 million per year.

  It is not possible to confirm the level of funding allocated specifically to computer training courses as account holders within both the £200 and £100 offer are able to use their ILA Scotland funding to help support computer training, with account holders in the £200 offer also having the option to choose from a wide variety of other courses.

Individual Learning Accounts

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there will be any restrictions in respect of the companies or institutions that can provide computer training funded under the Individual Learning Account scheme and, if so, what these restrictions will be.

Nicol Stephen: The application process for learning providers applying to become ILA Scotland registered is an open one. There are, however, a number of minimum quality standards and additional quality criteria which individual providers must satisfy before they can be approved.

  Learning providers who wish to be considered for ILA Scotland registration must be able to evidence that they meet one or more of the following quality standards:

  they are recognised by Scottish Higher Education Funding Council as being in good standing with the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)

  or

  they are recognised by Scottish Further Education Funding Council as being in good standing with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE), and/or

  they have been fully accredited through the Scottish Quality Management System (SQMS) and hold current SQMS certification, and/or

  they have been approved as a "branded" learndirect scotland learning centre (ldc) and hold current lds branded status.

  There is no distinction between the registration process for those learning providers wishing to provide computer training and those providers who offer other types of training course. Further information on the provider application and registration process is available via the ILA Scotland website, at http://www.ilascotland.org.uk.

Justice

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-18057 by Cathy Jamieson on 18 August 2005, why information in respect of police reports and written warnings concerning children is not held centrally.

Cathy Jamieson: The police do not maintain statistics on decisions on disposal following investigation of a crime. Information on the numbers of police reports and written warnings concerning children is not therefore included in the data that the Scottish Executive collects from police forces.

  The police may issue written warnings to the parents of children who have been involved in non-serious incidents. It is for the police to make professional judgements, based on individual circumstances, as to how serious an incident may be. Any serious crime would be reported to the Procurator Fiscal. Less serious crimes may be referred to both the Procurator Fiscal and the to the reporter for a decision on the best way forward.

Justice

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-18057 by Cathy Jamieson on 18 August 2005, how it monitors the issuing by police of written warnings to children if the information is not held centrally.

Cathy Jamieson: The Executive does not monitor the issuing by police of written warnings to children. Police officers use their professional judgement when dealing with children to respond in a way that they consider is in the best interests of the child and which also serves the ends of justice.

Justice

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive by what means, and over what period, the Minister for Justice was consulted by the Home Secretary on his decision to create new grounds for the expulsion from, and non-admission to, the United Kingdom of persons accused of inciting racial hatred, glorifying terrorism or encouraging others to commit acts of racial violence.

Cathy Jamieson: Immigration and deportation, including new grounds for the expulsion from and non-admission to the UK, are reserved.

Justice

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Intelligence Database system was installed and operational within budget.

Cathy Jamieson: The original capital budget for developing and installing the Scottish Intelligence Database (SID) system was £5.8 million, excluding vat. Annual running costs were estimated to be £1.3 million. Expenditure to December 2004, when SID was operational across Scotland was £5.9 million capital and £0.8 million revenue excluding vat.

Justice

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many referrals procurator fiscals have received from the police in each of the last three years in connection with offences committed by motorists (a) obstructing footways and pavements, (b) depositing goods on pavements inconsiderately, (c) neglecting pedestrian rights, (d) using a motor vehicle negligently, (e) depositing building materials on roads and (f) relating to skips, broken down by police force area.

Colin Boyd QC: The collation and analysis of the relevant information for this parliamentary question means that it cannot be answered by the deadline. I will write providing a detailed answer to the question as soon as the collation and analysis is complete.

Life Expectancy

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the impact of changes in life expectancy on public spending in Scotland.

Mr Tom McCabe: We published the Draft Budget 2006-07 on 1 September 2005. The spending plans within that report take into account up-to-date statistical information, including where appropriate population information.

Local Government

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how long it has taken it on average to process and determine local authority local plans.

Johann Lamont: The Scottish ministers do not determine local plans and only intervene in local planning in exceptional circumstances. Reporters from the Scottish Executive Inquiry Reporters’ Unit are appointed to hold inquiries into objections to local plans and report to local authorities. The Scottish Executive does not hold figures on the average length of local plan inquiries. They may, however, last from several days to several months depending on the amount and complexity of objections.

Local Government

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when its determination on Angus Council's local plan will be finalised.

Johann Lamont: The Scottish ministers do not determine local plans and only intervene in local planning in exceptional circumstances. The finalised local plan for Angus will be subject to a local plan inquiry early next year. The Scottish Executive Inquiry Reporters’ Unit will conduct the inquiry and then produce a report for Angus Council. It will be for the Council to consider the recommendations of the inquiry and progress the plan to adoption.

Local Government Finance

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what amount was outstanding in poll tax arrears in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

George Lyon: The information is contained in the following table.

  Summary of Reported Amounts of Community Charge Arrears1,2,3

  

 1999-2000 to 2004-05
1999-2000
(£000)
2000-01
(£000)
2001-02
(£000)
2002-03
(£000)
2003-04
(£000)
2004-05
(£000)


Scotland
465,067 
455,069 
447,076 
444,367 
439,571 
441,500 


Aberdeen City
9,020 
8,712 
8,473 
8,295 
8,148 
8,015 


Aberdeenshire
4,288 
4,153 
4,075 
3,954 
3,910 
3,812 


Angus
4,489 
4,198 
3,992 
3,879 
3,791 
3,708 


Argyll and Bute
8,348 
7,811 
7,669 
7,562 
7,448 
7,387 


Clackmannanshire
2,335 
2,319 
2,315 
2,311 
2,307 
2,302 


Dumfries and Galloway 4
..
..
..
3,102 
3,081 
3,068 


Dundee City
14,536 
13,814 
13,164 
12,775 
12,500 
12,257 


East Ayrshire
9,347 
8,944 
8,761 
8,620 
8,455 
8,241 


East Dunbartonshire
5,994 
4,598 
4,541 
4,498 
4,435 
4,388 


East Lothian
9,088 
8,986 
8,605 
8,449 
8,263 
8,227 


East Renfrewshire
3,816 
3,726 
3,626 
3,541 
3,477 
3,422 


Edinburgh, City of 5
70,249 
69,908 
69,170 
68,616 
68,153 
73,730 


Eilean Siar
1,024 
1,017 
1,013 
1,013 
1,011 
1,010 


Falkirk
5,119 
5,108 
5,106 
5,105 
5,105 
5,105 


Fife
19,719 
19,088 
18,662 
18,267 
17,973 
17,790 


Glasgow City
130,360 
128,576 
127,631 
126,598 
126,042 
125,663 


Highland
10,200 
10,027 
9,880 
9,717 
9,619 
9,560 


Inverclyde
6,077 
5,694 
5,257 
5,088 
5,011 
4,939 


Midlothian
9,510 
9,366 
9,120 
8,961 
8,664 
8,242 


Moray
2,338 
2,262 
2,176 
2,123 
2,087 
2,030 


North Ayrshire
15,699 
15,173 
14,793 
14,329 
13,778 
13,411 


North Lanarkshire
29,042 
28,040 
27,382 
26,941 
26,493 
26,097 


Orkney Islands
62 
166 
161 
160 
158 
158 


Perth and Kinross
3,379 
3,245 
3,037 
2,934 
2,841 
2,796 


Renfrewshire
17,421 
17,270 
17,224 
17,110 
17,012 
16,913 


Scottish Borders
2,257 
2,701 
2,591 
2,524 
2,481 
2,457 


Shetland Islands
60 
230 
230 
230 
230 
230 


South Ayrshire
4,925 
4,509 
4,454 
4,435 
4,412 
4,397 


South Lanarkshire
33,450 
33,090 
32,274 
32,029 
31,868 
31,660 


Stirling
4,595 
4,535 
4,471 
4,330 
4,298 
4,272 


West Dunbartonshire
12,981 
12,770 
12,409 
12,242 
12,048 
11,843 


West Lothian
15,339 
15,033 
14,814 
14,629 
14,472 
14,370 



  Source: Statistical return 'Council Tax, Non-Domestic Rates and Community Charge Receipts' (CTRR).

  Notes:

  1. All figures are net of discounts, exemptions and surcharges (although not all councils can exclude surcharges).

  The figures are before any amounts written off for bad or doubtful debt.

  2. Excludes community charge benefit.

  3. Figures for amounts billed and collected include Community Water Charges.

  4. Figures for 1999-2000 to 2001-02 exclude Dumfries and Galloway. The council did not submit returns for this period.

  5. City of Edinburgh's 2004-05 figure includes surcharges. The council has excluded surcharges for all other years.

Maternity Services

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a monthly breakdown of deliveries at the Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health since it opened at the new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

Lewis Macdonald: A monthly breakdown of deliveries at the Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health, Edinburgh since it opened is detailed in the following table.

  

 
2002
2003
2004P
2005P


January
 
478
547
449


February
 
438
422
 


March
394
439
447
 


April
397
456
444
 


May
474
471
455
 


June
427
490
494
 


July
450
512
521
 


August 
540
536
458
 


September
511
493
506
 


October
516
511
489
 


November
438
459
481
 


December
502
503
428
 



  Source: SMR02 for 2002 and 2003 data, SBR for 2004 and 2005 data.

  Note: Pprovisional.

Mediation Services

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on mediation services by its (a) Justice and (b) Communities Department in the last five years.

Hugh Henry: The information requested is detailed in the following table.

  

Department
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05


Justice
£679,630
£1,050,044
£1,080,256
£1,159,467
£1,189,047


Communities
£85,115
£91,429
£94,171
£96,966
£99,906


Total
£764,745
£1,141,473
£1,174,427
£1,256,433
£1,288,953

Ministerial Cars

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30356 by Mr Andy Kerr on 22 October 2002, what the cost has been of the government car service in each month since September 2002, showing the fuel, vehicle purchase or leasing and staff costs and the cost of conversion of any cars to liquid petroleum gas (LPG) or purchase of cars with LPG facilities.

Mr Tom McCabe: The monthly expenditure on fuel, vehicle purchase, and staff costs for the Government Car Service (Scotland) (GCS) 4 since September 2002 is shown in the following table:

  

Month
Fuel Cost (£)
Vehicle Purchase(£)1,2
Staff Costs (£)3


Sep 2002
3,903
0
39,296


Oct 2002
3,204
0
38,671


Nov 2002
4,050
0
45,926


Dec 2002
3,051
21,500
42,564


Jan 2003
3,145
43,000
43,655


Feb 2003
3,107
0
45,487


Mar 2003
3,182
0
45,046


Apr 2003
3,643
0
44,627


May 2003
4,098
0
38,324


Jun 2003
4,123
0
44,846


Jul 2003
3,964
0
42,906


Aug 2003
3,548
0
46,187


Sept 2003
4,266
0
46,867


Oct 2003
4,402
0
32,100


Nov 2003
3,727
87,254
31,020


Dec 2003
4,472
0
31,357


Jan 2004
4,306
0
31,097


Feb 2004
3,325
0
31,038


Mar 2004
3,304
0
32,767


Apr 2004
4,928
0
40,207


May 2004
3,562
0
32,614


Jun 2004
3,374
0
37,978


Jul 2004
4,023
0
43,708


Aug 2004
3,303
0
37,692


Sept 2004
4,052
0
58,585


Oct 2004
3,972
43,889
44,501


Nov 2004
4,445
21,945
44,433


Dec 2004
4,442
0
46,643


Jan 2005
3,700
0
44,692


Feb 2005
3,555
21,945
45,221


Mar 2005
3,942
109,748
49,177


Apr 2005
4,321
0
38,658


May 2005
4,504
0
63,083


Jun 2005
4,589
0
51,669


Jul 2005
5,328
0
56,650


Aug 2005
3,631
0
50,319



  Notes:

  1. None of the GCS vehicles are leased.

  2. All dual-fuelled saloons were converted prior to purchase.

  3. Staff costs include Accruing Superannuation Liability Charges (ASLC) and earnings-related national insurance contributions (ERNIC).

  4. GCS provides/arranges transport for a wide range of customers, including Scottish ministers, ministers of UK Government departments when in Scotland, some senior officials at the Scottish Executive, visiting dignitaries, and where necessary the transportation of official documents.

Ministerial Cars

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-15475 by Angus MacKay on 5 June 2001, how much has been spent on fuel for ministerial cars in each month since May 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: I refer the member to the answers to questions S1W-30356, on 22 October 2002 and S2W-19095, on 21 September 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Ministerial Correspondence

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the First Minister will respond to Alex Salmond MP’s letter to him of 22 July 2005.

Nicol Stephen: I shall respond to Mr Salmond’s letter of 22 July soon.

National Health Service

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much local authorities spent in total to support local advocacy services for vulnerable individuals in each of the last six years.

Mr Tom McCabe: This level of information is not held centrally.

Osteoporosis

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much NHS Scotland has spent on treating osteoporotic fractures in each year since 1999.

Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is not held centrally.

Osteoporosis

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many leaflets providing preventive advice and advice on treatment of osteoporosis are produced annually for patients and the public.

Lewis Macdonald: Full information is not available. In the year of April 2004/March 2005 NHS Health Scotland supplied 10,820 copies of their leaflet on osteoporosis prevention and treatment, and from April 2005 to the present they have supplied 3,998. However, the Executive does not hold information on the substantial numbers of information leaflets produced by the voluntary and commercial sectors.

Osteoporosis

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether staff in hospitals are prompted to investigate the likelihood of osteoporosis in patients who present themselves with fractures.

Lewis Macdonald: The diagnosis of osteoporosis is a matter for clinical judgement. However, the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, which is a part of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, has issued good practice clinical guidelines on the Prevention and Management of Hip Fracture in Older People and on the Management of Osteoporosis to help doctors.

Osteoporosis

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether hospitals notify GPs of fracture patients who receive preventive treatment for osteoporosis in hospital of patients’ requirement for on-going treatment.

Lewis Macdonald: It is standard practice for a patient who is leaving hospital to be given a letter to his or her GP detailing the treatment given and any continuing care required. The involvement of GPs in the aftercare of elderly people with hip fracture, whether or not they have a diagnosis of osteoporosis, is identified as having of particular importance in the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network good practice clinical guidelines on the Prevention and Management of Hip Fracture in Older People and on the Management of Osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) men and (b) women suffer from osteoporosis.

Lewis Macdonald: Exact information is not held centrally. An estimate derived from information collected under NHS National Services’ Information and Statistics Division’s Practice Team Information system suggests that over the whole of Scotland in the 12 months ended in December 2004 approximately 2,300 men and 15,100 women with osteoporosis were seen by GPs, practice nurses, community nurses and health visitors. These figures are based on the activity of 46 Scottish General Practices with a combined patient population of 289,020. However, it is possible that they represent an underestimate of the true number of people with osteoporosis in Scotland, since not every person with the condition would consult their GP practice in connection with osteoporosis in any given year.

Osteoporosis

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has met the EU Osteoporosis Consultation Panel since the publication of Osteoporosis in the European Union: Member States Policy Progress Report in 2004.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive has had no meetings with the EU Osteoporosis Consultation Panel. The panel is a sub-group of the International Osteoporosis Foundation, a voluntary sector lobbying organisation which brings together osteoporosis support groups from 84 countries.

Osteoporosis

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what lessons can be learned from Osteoporosis in the European Union: Member States Policy Progress Report for people with osteoporosis in Scotland.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive does not manage services for osteoporosis, or any other chronic condition, directly. Good practice clinical guidelines on the management of osteoporosis were published by the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, which is part of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, in June 2003. These will be reviewed regularly, and any new published evidence on the management of osteoporosis will be taken into account.

Osteoporosis

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what links it has with the International Osteoporosis Foundation.

Lewis Macdonald: The International Osteoporosis Foundation is an organisation which brings together voluntary sector support and lobbying groups from 84 countries. The Executive has no direct contact with it. The Executive does not manage or issue advice on the management of osteoporosis directly. The organisations which are funded to do so would be likely to turn to the UK National Osteoporosis Society for patient input, as for example the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network did when preparing good practice clinical guidelines on the prevention and management of hip fractures in elderly people and on the management of osteoporosis. The National Osteoporosis Society is a member of the International Osteoporosis Foundation.

Osteoporosis

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to organise a conference on osteoporosis, bringing together all stakeholders to discuss future developments on the issue.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive has no such plans. We do not manage services for osteoporosis or any other chronic condition directly. NHS boards are expected to provide services for people with osteoporosis, taking into account good practice clinical guidelines.

Osteoporosis

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to undertake an educational campaign to highlight and raise public awareness of the steps that each individual can take to prevent the development of osteoporosis.

Lewis Macdonald: There are no plans to develop such a campaign. Some of the risk factors for osteoporosis are not modifiable, for examples age, sex, ethnic origin, reproductive factors such as early menopause and genetic factors. Modifiable risk factors include poor diet, lack of exercise and smoking, and these are risk factors for many other conditions as well as osteoporosis. The Executive is already working hard to promote a healthier lifestyle in Scotland.

Osteoporosis

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had on osteoporosis with the European Commission.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive has had no such discussions.

Osteoporosis

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what predictions have been made of the number of osteoporotic fractures in Scotland in the next 50 years and what information it has on such predictions across Europe.

Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is not held centrally.

Police

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-15477 by Mr Jim Wallace on 14 May 2001, what the cost of fuel for police vehicles was in (a) 2001-02, (b) 2002-03, (c) 2003-04 and (d) 2004-05, broken down by police force.

Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-16906 on 2 June 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Police

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-9736 by Hugh Henry on 12 August 2004, how many police operations in 2004 involved issuing firearms to officers, broken down by police force area.

Cathy Jamieson: The deployment of firearms is an operational matter for Chief Constables. The following table gives information provided by forces for the number of operations against persons known or believed to be armed.

  

Police Force
2004-05


Central Scotland
1


Dumfries and Galloway
4


Fife
5


Grampian
6


Lothian and Borders
181


Northern
4


Strathclyde
117


Tayside
3



  Source: Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.

Pre-School Education

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-18442 by Robert Brown on 25 August 2005, how much has been allocated to Bookstart Scotland for (a) 2005-06, (b) 2006-07 and (c) 2007-08.

Robert Brown: The Scottish Executive has allocated £750,000 to Bookstart in Scotland over the next three financial years: £250,000 in 2005-06, £250,000 in 2006-07 and £250,000 in 2007-08.

Pre-School Education

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-18442 by Robert Brown on 25 August 2005, from which budget the funding for the Bookstart Scotland scheme has been drawn.

Robert Brown: Funding for Bookstart Scotland in 2005-06 will be met from a managed reprioritisation of resources within the Education and Young People portfolio as a whole. The specific source of provision in 2006-07 and 2007-08 will be determined following final ministerial decisions on budget allocations for those years.

Rail Network

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take following the presentation of the feasibility study into the reopening of small stations on the west coast main line.

Tavish Scott: The Scottish Executive responded to Dumfries and Galloway Council with comments on the report into the introduction of a local passenger service on the West Coast Main Line on 30 June 2005.

Scottish Enterprise

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7659 by Henry McLeish on 20 June 2000, what fuel costs have been incurred by Scottish Enterprise in each year since 1999.

Nicol Stephen: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. The information requested is not held by the Executive.

Scottish Executive Staff

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of its temporary staff have university degrees.

Mr Tom McCabe: This information is not held centrally.

Scottish Executive Staff

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total overtime payments were for its officials in each year since 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: The overtime payments charged to Scottish Executive’s core Departments are as follows:

  

 
£000


1999-2000
1,270


2000-01
1,295


2001-02
2,520


2002-03
1,525


2003-04
1,560


2004-05
1,624



  The foot-and-mouth disease outbreak occurred between February and May 2001. This caused exceptional disruption to normal working hours which resulted in a significant increase in overtime working and associated payments.

Smoking

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will rule out the provision of purpose-built shelters, or sealed-off smoking areas, in clubs and pubs such as exist in Ireland and Italy in the context of the ban on smoking in public places.

Lewis Macdonald: Yes, if they fall within the definition of "wholly or substantially enclosed". Pubs and clubs are classified as no smoking premises under Schedule 1 of the draft Prohibition of Smoking in Certain Premises (Scotland) Regulations 2006. When these come into force, smoking will be prohibited in any part of a pub or club that is wholly or substantially enclosed, i.e. that has a roof and walls on 50% or more of its perimeter. The full definition of "wholly or substantially enclosed" is also contained within the draft regulations, which can be accessed at:

  http://www.clearingtheairscotland.com/faqs/business.html.

  Guidance on this and related matters will be issued to all businesses in Scotland later this year.

Smoking

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the licence holder, event organiser or security firm would be liable for enforcing a public smoking ban at events such as big concerts.

Lewis Macdonald: If an event takes place in wholly or substantially enclosed premises, (as defined in schedule 1 of the draft Prohibition of Smoking in Certain Premises (Scotland) Regulations 2006), the employer, manager or person in control of those premises will be required to take all reasonable precautions to ensure that employees, customers and visitors are aware of the new law and that they do not smoke in the affected areas. These precautions will include the display of no-smoking notices on any of the premises that are affected by the ban, so that they can be read by people approaching and inside the premises.

  Guidance on this and related matters will be issued to all businesses in Scotland later this year.

Smoking

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated costs are of implementing the ban on smoking in public places.

Lewis Macdonald: The estimated costs of funding public information activity, guidance to businesses, monitoring and evaluation and enforcement preparation in this financial year is £3 million. In addition, an additional £5 million has been allocated to NHS boards to allow the expansion of smoking cessation services in anticipation of increased demand leading up to the legislation coming into effect.

  The estimated costs for future years have not yet been finalised.

Smoking

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what organisations it consulted prior to announcing the introduction date of smoking restrictions under the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive did not consult on the specific issue of the date of implementation.

Smoking

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what public relations consultancies it has appointed to advise it on the introduction of smoking restrictions under the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005; what activities have so far been undertaken by these consultancies, and how much they have cost.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive appointed Consolidated Communications from its roster of PR agencies to undertake a range of PR activities in support of the smoke-free legislation. The cost for the period April 2005 to March 2006 is £169,000 (net).

Smoking

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what activities it intends to undertake prior to the introduction of smoking restrictions under the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005 to publicise these restrictions and how much the activities are expected to cost.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive will undertake a range of activities to help to build compliance in the run up to the introduction of the smoke-free legislation in March 2006. This will include an advertising campaign, a mail drop to every household in Scotland, and guidance to businesses and organisations on how to comply with the new law.

  It is currently estimated that these activities will cost in the region of £1.5 million.

Smoking

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional funding it will allocate to local authorities to enable them to enforce the smoking restrictions in the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005.

Lewis Macdonald: The level of funding is still under negotiation. The Minister of Health and Community Care is meeting the President of COSLA at the end of the month to discuss a range of implementation issues, including funding for enforcement.

Smoking

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it gave to the "Scotland CAN!" campaign.

Lewis Macdonald: Scottish Executive officials and staff from Consolidated Communications, the company handling smoke-free PR for the Executive, attended the regular meetings of the Scotland CAN Communications Group. No financial support was provided.

Sport

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the £1,080,300, referred to in its press release dated 15 August 2005 entitled "Investment for Melbourne 2006", is new money and how much has come from existing budgets and under which headings.

Patricia Ferguson: The £1,080,300 is a new allocation from existing budgets specifically for athlete support ahead of Melbourne 2006. It is a combination of £775,300 from the Lottery Sports Fund and £305,000 from  sportscotland’s Exchequer funding from the Executive.

  In addition to that funding, sportscotland announced a 10% increase in its annual grant to the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland and that 11 sports have been awarded £185,922 from the Lottery Sports Fund to enhance their Games medal potential.

Student Finance

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Scottish-based student income and expenditure survey will be published.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish survey on students’ income, expenditure and debt 2004-05 will be published in November 2005.

Suicide

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) males and (b) females aged over (i) 60, (ii) 70 and (iii) 80 have committed suicide in each year since 1999 (1) in total and (2) broken down by NHS board area.

George Lyon: The information requested is given in the following tables The data combines deaths from intentional self-harm with deaths from events of undetermined intent as the majority of the latter are likely to have been suicides.

  Deaths from Intentional Self-Harm and Events of Undetermined Intent

  

Age group
Year of Registration of Death


1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004


Males aged 60 and over
114
107
94
101
97
90


Females aged 60 and over
48
39
54
56
42
48


Males aged 70 and over
54
49
42
41
44
48


Females aged 70 and over
24
23
27
26
18
25


Males aged 80 and over
13
19
12
11
16
13


Females aged 80 and over
8
10
10
8
6
12


By health board
 
 
 
 
 
 


Males aged 60 and over
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004


Argyll and Clyde
12
10
10
13
8
5


Ayrshire and Arran
13
5
7
6
6
9


Borders
1
3
1
5
6
2


Dumfries and Galloway
6
3
3
3
2
1


Fife
7
4
7
9
3
6


Forth Valley
3
4
5
2
5
2


Grampian
13
13
10
12
13
9


Greater Glasgow
26
25
16
18
19
21


Highland
4
8
8
5
7
6


Lanarkshire
9
10
7
9
8
6


Lothian
9
8
14
15
10
13


Orkney
1
2
0
1
1
0


Shetland
0
1
0
1
1
1


Tayside
9
10
4
2
8
8


Western Isles
1
1
2
0
0
1


Grand Total
114
107
94
101
97
90


Females aged 60 and over
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004


Argyll and Clyde
4
4
5
5
3
3


Ayrshire and Arran
3
2
4
3
2
2


Borders
1
1
0
0
1
1


Dumfries and Galloway
2
3
2
6
2
1


Fife
2
2
4
6
5
0


Forth Valley
5
0
3
0
0
0


Grampian
6
6
0
8
4
7


Greater Glasgow
7
5
12
16
7
8


Highland
4
0
3
1
2
4


Lanarkshire
4
4
8
3
6
5


Lothian
5
7
7
8
5
11


Orkney
0
1
1
0
0
0


Shetland
0
0
0
0
0
0


Tayside
5
4
5
0
5
6


Western Isles
0
0
0
0
0
0


Grand Total
48
39
54
56
42
48


Males aged 70 and over
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004


Argyll and Clyde
2
3
4
6
6
3


Ayrshire and Arran
6
4
3
4
3
3


Borders
1
0
0
3
1
2


Dumfries and Galloway
3
1
3
0
2
0


Fife
5
2
4
5
1
3


Forth Valley
2
2
3
0
3
2


Grampian
5
6
5
5
4
4


Greater Glasgow
17
13
7
8
11
9


Highland
2
3
3
0
3
5


Lanarkshire
3
2
2
2
6
3


Lothian
4
6
5
6
1
10


Orkney
1
0
0
0
1
0


Shetland
0
0
0
1
0
0


Tayside
3
7
2
1
2
4


Western Isles
0
0
1
0
0
0


Grand Total
54
49
42
41
44
48


Females aged 70 and over
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004


Argyll and Clyde
2
3
1
1
2
3


Ayrshire and Arran
0
1
0
1
1
1


Borders
0
0
0
0
0
0


Dumfries and Galloway
1
1
1
4
1
1


Fife
1
1
2
2
3
0


Forth Valley
3
0
2
0
0
0


Grampian
2
3
0
2
1
5


Greater Glasgow
3
3
6
10
3
2


Highland
4
0
2
0
1
3


Lanarkshire
1
2
3
3
0
2


Lothian
4
5
6
3
3
4


Orkney
0
1
1
0
0
0


Shetland
0
0
0
0
0
0


Tayside
3
3
3
0
3
4


Western Isles
0
0
0
0
0
0


Grand Total
24
23
27
26
18
25


Males aged 80 and over
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004


Argyll and Clyde
0
0
2
0
1
2


Ayrshire and Arran
1
2
0
1
1
0


Borders
0
0
0
0
1
0


Dumfries and Galloway
0
0
2
0
0
0


Fife
1
1
2
3
1
0


Forth Valley
1
1
0
0
1
1


Grampian
3
1
1
2
3
1


Greater Glasgow
3
7
3
3
4
1


Highland
1
0
0
0
0
3


Lanarkshire
0
1
0
0
3
1


Lothian
2
2
2
2
0
3


Orkney
0
0
0
0
1
0


Shetland
0
0
0
0
0
0


Tayside
1
4
0
0
0
1


Western Isles
0
0
0
0
0
0


Grand Total
13
19
12
11
16
13


Females aged 80 and over
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004


Argyll and Clyde
1
1
0
0
0
3


Ayrshire and Arran
0
0
0
0
1
0


Borders
0
0
0
0
0
0


Dumfries and Galloway
1
0
0
1
1
0


Fife
1
1
2
1
1
0


Forth Valley
0
0
2
0
0
0


Grampian
1
2
0
0
1
3


Greater Glasgow
2
2
0
4
0
0


Highland
1
0
0
0
1
2


Lanarkshire
1
1
2
0
0
1


Lothian
0
1
4
2
0
2


Orkney
0
0
0
0
0
0


Shetland
0
0
0
0
0
0


Tayside
0
2
0
0
1
1


Western Isles
0
0
0
0
0
0


Grand Total
8
10
10
8
6
12

Taxation

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost was of recovering poll tax arrears in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

George Lyon: The cost of recovering community charge arrears is not held centrally.

Teachers

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-18407 by Peter Peacock on 8 September 2005, what percentage increase in the number of teachers it expects to achieve in (a) 2005, (b) 2006 and (c) 2007.

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-18407 by Peter Peacock on 8 September 2005, what the projected number of full-time-equivalent teachers is for (a) 2005, (b) 2006 and (c) 2007.

Peter Peacock: Projected numbers of full-time equivalent teachers for (a) 2005, (b) 2006 and (c) 2007 are in the National Statistics Publication Notice Results of Teacher Workforce Planning for 2005-06 and can be accessed using the following hyperlink:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00401-02.asp.

Youth Crime

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it has developed young offender mediation and reparation projects since 2002.

Cathy Jamieson: The Executive recognises the important contribution that properly targeted and focused restorative approaches can make to the wider repertoire of services aimed at preventing, tackling and cutting youth crime.

  The Scottish Executive’s Action Programme to Reduce Youth Crime (January 2002) included a commitment to encourage the expansion of this type of scheme. National youth justice standards, announced in December 2002, require that every victim of youth crime will have the opportunity to participate appropriately in restorative justice by April 2006.

  A dedicated grant of £2 million was made in March 2002 to introduce these services in every authority or to enhance existing provision. On top of increased youth justice expenditure, a further £3 million has been invested in the past two years to facilitate continued expansion in restorative youth justice.

  From a low baseline in 2002, returns from the youth justice mapping exercise indicate that there were around 3,800 places across Scotland as at April 2005.

  The focus is now on building consistency and quality as well as capacity. We have supported a national training and consultancy resource to disseminate best practice, and worked with partners to agree guidance for restorative police warnings and the operation of restorative justice in the children’s hearings system.

Youth Crime

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether every local authority has a young offender mediation and reparation project.

Cathy Jamieson: Since 2002, the Executive has provided dedicated additional funding to every local authority in Scotland to introduce restorative approaches to youth offending or to enhance their existing provision. Details are published as part of the annual youth justice mapping exercise at http://www.childrens-hearings.co.uk/youthjustice.asp .

Youth Crime

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total allocation for the Youth Crime Prevention Fund has been since 2002.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it plans to allocate to the Youth Crime Prevention Fund in the next three years.

Cathy Jamieson: The table sets out funding under the Youth Crime Prevention Fund in each year since it started. This table provides an update to the funding position laid out in the answer to question S2W–11334 on 4 November 2004. By outlining actual spend for 2004-05 and an increased budget for 2005-06. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  Actual spend was less than budgeted as not all projects took up their full allocation. In order to effectively support all the good quality projects within the fund the budget has been increased to £2.75 million. The budget will be held level from 2005-06 to 2007-08.

  

 
Youth Crime Prevention Fund


2002-03 (actual)
£3,447,550


2003-04 (actual)
£2,423,553


2004-05 (actual)
£2,270,949


2005-06 (budget)
£2,751,236